System and method for managing pedigree information

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for managing and transmitting pedigree information. The methods and systems allow a user to access a pedigree information portal to submit and transmit pedigree data to a recipient of the physical drug product. The method provides security and reliability in relaying the drug history and data. In addition, methods and systems are provided for associating the electronically transmitted pedigree information to the physical drug product. A user may thus retrieve and review pedigree information using, for example, one or more barcodes representing a sender identifier and recipient identifier.

FIELD OF ART

The invention relates generally to information management. Moreparticularly, the invention provides for the formatting and transmissionof product pedigree information.

BACKGROUND

The inherent dangers of prescription drugs require cautious managementand recordkeeping. Current methods of managing prescription drugsinclude labeling drugs with a variety of information that identify anddescribe the drugs. Such information includes the origin of the drugproduct, dosage strength, expiration date, lot number, quantity andinvoice number. The inclusion of such prescription drug information canprovide significant safeguards against accidental or mistakenconsumption or distribution.

Even with current safeguards, it is often difficult to ascertain theauthenticity of the provided drug information. Thus, counterfeit drugproducts are able to enter the drug supply chain undetected by providingfalse or misleading drug information on the label. Drug counterfeitersmay also falsify or alter drug delivery records to further facilitatethe entry of counterfeit drugs into the supply chain. To combat thisissue, many drug manufacturers and distributors are moving towardproviding drug pedigree information (i.e., a documented history of adrug product's chain of custody) and associating the information withthe physical product. In fact, some states have made it mandatory toinclude pedigree information in any acquisition, sale or trade of drugproducts.

However, various states or organizations that regulate such pedigreeinformation may impose differing standards for formatting andtransmitting the information. As such, a drug company must insure thatthe formatting of the pedigree information complies with the regulationsand standards of the recipient's organization or state. In order to meetthese needs, companies have implemented electronic transmission systemsto facilitate the management of pedigree information. For many drugcompanies, however, implementing such an electronic method and/or systemto comply with multiple varying standards would require a tremendousinvestment of resources. For example, a drug company may be required topurchase new computer equipment, acquire drug tracking components andupdate software in order to handle the various information formatstandards for the drug pedigree information. Even using paperdocumentation to abide by the pedigree requirements, some companies mayfind it difficult to keep pace with companies using electronicmanagement solutions.

As such, methods and systems are needed for facilitating the managementand transmission of drug pedigree information to enable drug companieshaving varying resources to comply with various information standards.

SUMMARY

The following presents a summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects of the invention. The summary is not anextensive overview of the invention. It is neither intended to identifykey or critical elements of the invention nor to delineate the scope ofthe invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts ofthe invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription below.

One or more aspects comprise methods for receiving user inputcorresponding to drug pedigree information, determining whether astandard format is required and if so, formatting the information tocomply with the standard. Additionally, a database may be maintainedthat stores various formatting requirements associated with differentdestinations (i.e., states, organizations, companies). The methods mayfurther include authentication algorithms to securely transfer thepedigree information.

One or more additional aspects include a method for assigning a localidentifier and destination identifier corresponding to user enteredpedigree information and automatically generating a label with theaforementioned identifiers. For example, the label may be generated withone or more barcodes that correspond to the local identifier and/ordestination identifier. Upon scanning the barcode(s), a recipient of thedrug product would be able to view the pedigree information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative operating environment inwhich one or more of the methods and systems of the invention may beimplemented.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for entering, formatting andtransmitting pedigree information according to one or more aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for associatingelectronically transmitted pedigree information with a physical drugproduct according to one or more aspects described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface for entering and managing pedigreeinformation according to one or more aspects described herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of a network through which product pedigreeinformation may be transmitted according to one or more aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for determining pedigreeinformation regulations and storing those regulations in associationwith one or more attributes according to one or more aspects describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and inwhich is shown by way of illustration various embodiments in which theinvention may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and structural and functional modificationsmay be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the presentinvention.

In order to provide solutions that enable entities to enter, manage andtransmit drug product pedigree information to a recipient, the presentinvention is preferably implemented in conjunction with one or morecomputers and one or more networks. An operating environment for such acomputer is illustrated in FIG. 1, in which a computer 100 is connectedto a local area network (LAN) 102 and a wide area network (WAN) 104.Computer 100 includes a central processor 110 that controls the overalloperation of the computer and a system bus 112 that connects centralprocessor 110 to the components described below. System bus 112 may beimplemented with any one of a variety of conventional bus architectures.

Computer 100 can include a variety of interface units and drives forreading and writing data or files. In particular, computer 100 includesa local memory interface 114 and a removable memory interface 116respectively coupling a hard disk drive 118 and a removable memory drive120 to system bus 112. Examples of removable memory drives includemagnetic disk drives and optical disk drives. Hard disks generallyinclude one or more read/write heads that convert bits to magneticpulses when writing to a computer-readable medium 122 and magneticpulses to bits when reading data from the computer readable medium 122.A single hard disk drive 118 and a single removable memory drive 120 areshown for illustration purposes only and with the understanding thatcomputer 100 may, include several of such drives. Furthermore, computer100 may include drives for interfacing with other types of computerreadable media such as magneto-optical drives.

Unlike hard disks, system memories, such as system memory 126, generallyread and write data electronically and do not include read/write heads.System memory 126 may be implemented with a conventional system memoryhaving a read only memory section that stores a basic input/outputsystem (BIOS) and a random access memory (RAM) that stores other dataand files.

A user can interact with computer 100 with a variety of input devices.FIG. 1 shows a serial port interface 128 coupling a keyboard 130 and apointing device 132 to system bus 112. Pointing device 132 may beimplemented with a hard-wired or wireless mouse, track ball, pen device,or similar device.

Computer 100 may include additional interfaces for connecting peripheraldevices to system bus 112. FIG. 1 shows a universal serial bus (USB)interface 134 coupling a video or digital camera 136 to system bus 112.An IEEE 1394 interface 138 may be used to couple additional devices tocomputer 100. Furthermore, interface 138 may configured to operate withparticular manufacture interfaces such as FireWire developed by AppleComputer and i.Link developed by Sony. Peripheral devices may includetouch sensitive screens, game pads scanners, printers, and other inputand output devices and may be coupled to system bus 112 through parallelports, game ports, PCI boards or any other interface used to coupleperipheral devices to a computer.

Computer 100 also includes a video adapter 140 coupling a display device142 to system bus 112. Display device 142 may include a cathode ray tube(CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), field emission display (FED),plasma display or any other device that produces an image that isviewable by the user. Sound can be recorded and reproduced with amicrophone 144 and a speaker 146. A sound card 148 may be used to couplemicrophone 144 and speaker 146 to system bus 112.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that the device connections shownin FIG. 1 are for illustration purposes only and that several of theperipheral devices could be coupled to system bus 112 via alternativeinterfaces. For example, video camera 136 could be connected to IEEE1394 interface 138 and pointing device 132 could be connected to USBinterface 134.

Computer 100 includes a network interface 150 that couples system bus112 to LAN 102. LAN 102 may have one or more of the well-known LANtopologies and may use a variety of different protocols, such asEthernet. Computer 100 may communicate with other computers and devicesconnected to LAN 102, such as computer 152 and printer 154. Computersand other devices may be connected to LAN 102 via twisted pair wires,coaxial cable, fiber optics or other media. Alternatively, radio wavesmay be used to connect one or more computers or devices to LAN 102.

A wide area network 104, such as the Internet, can also be accessed bycomputer 100. FIG. 1 shows a modem unit 156 connected to serial portinterface 128 and to WAN 104. Modem unit 156 may be located within orexternal to computer 100 and may be any type of conventional modem, suchas a cable modem or a satellite modem. LAN 102 may also be used toconnect to WAN 104. FIG. 1 shows a router 158 that may connect LAN 102to WAN 104 in a conventional manner. A server 160 is shown connected toWAN 104. Of course, numerous additional servers, computers, handhelddevices, personal digital assistants, telephones and other devices mayalso be connected to WAN 104.

The operation of computer 100 and server 160 can be controlled bycomputer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium.For example, computer 100 may include computer-executable instructionsfor transmitting information to server 160, receiving information fromserver 160 and displaying the received information on display device142. Furthermore, server 160 may include computer-executableinstructions for transmitting hypertext markup language (HTML) orextensible markup language (XML) computer code to computer 100.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing drug pedigreeinformation. In step 200, user input relating to the drug product'spedigree information is received by a pedigree information processingsystem. Such information may include the sender's name or identificationnumber, drug name/type, a lot number, and previous drug history. Inaddition, a user may further attach or fax files or images (e.g., druglabels) that may be relevant to the drug product. In some alternativeembodiments, the user may further set limits to the transmission oraccess of the drug product's pedigree information. Drug companies may besensitive to the distribution of inventory or company information andmay thus wish to restrict the dissemination of pedigree data. In oneexample, a drug company may specify that only the specified recipientmay access or view the pedigree information. In another example, arestriction may be implemented that limits the number of transmissionsof the pedigree data. The user input may be entered in a variety of waysincluding a graphical user interface of a web page or an application.For example, a user may access a web portal interface that allows theuser to enter the pedigree information for processing and transmissionremotely. Such a web portal interface may be implemented using HTMLcode, XML programming, Active Server Pages (ASP) and the like.

Once the user has completed entry of the relevant pedigree data, one ormore designated recipients of the pedigree information may then bedetermined from the user input in step 205. Additionally, regulationsand standards for pedigree information may also be determined based onvarious factors associated with the designated recipient in step 210.Such factors may include location, jurisdiction and/or drug type. Forexample, if a recipient drug distributor operates in Florida, thepedigree information requirements and standards for Florida would beselected or identified. In some embodiments, the pedigree informationrequirements and regulations for numerous jurisdictions may be stored ina local database and updated periodically or whenever needed. In suchinstances, a system implementing the methods described herein may locateand extract the rules and regulation data from the local database basedon the recipient data entered by the user. Alternatively, a system mayconsult a third party server or database. If such rules and regulationsexist, a further determination may be made in step 215 as to whether therules and regulations are required. If the standards are required, thepedigree data may be formatted or packaged to insure compliance with theregulations in step 220. In one example, the pedigree data may beformatted using XML coding and transmission techniques. The formattedpedigree data may then transmitted to the recipient in step 225. If,however, a standard format exists but is not required (i.e, notenforced), the pedigree data may be sent without pre-formatting. Adecision as to whether to format the data or not may be made by a manualdetermination or a default system setting.

In one or more alternative embodiments, the recipient of the drugpedigree information may also evaluate the information to determinecompliance with the proper regulations and standards. If the informationformat is non-compliant, the recipient may issue an error or rejectionmessage to the sender through the pedigree information systemidentifying the errors in formatting. The pedigree information systemmay then automatically reformat the pedigree data according to theinstructions contained in the error message. Alternatively oradditionally, the sender may modify the entered data manually tocompensate for the identified errors.

The transmissions described in the method of FIG. 2 may use any of amultitude of network types. In addition, the transmissions may beencoded or otherwise authenticated in order to guarantee security andauthenticity of received data. For example, the data transmission may besent via one or more trusted agents that act as intermediaries toguarantee the sender's identity as well as the recipient's identity. Thetrusted agents may receive certificates from a granting authority notsubject to influence from an outside source. Alternatively,transmissions may be encrypted using techniques such as RSA key pairs(i.e., public and private keys) to prevent interception or unauthorizedaccess of the data. Another method for authenticating and securingtransmission is through the use of digital signatures. For example, aprocessing system may implement an XML based digital signature algorithmfor handling authentication of transmissions.

To further protect the integrity of pedigree information, an associationmay be created between the electronically transmitted information andthe physical drug product. FIG. 3 illustrates a method for associatingelectronic pedigree data with the physical drug product. In step 300, alocal (i.e., sender) identifier may be assigned to the pedigreeinformation of a drug product. Such an identifier may include anidentification number, a graphical symbol, an alphanumeric code and thelike. The sender identifier represents an association between thephysical drug product and the pedigree information stored on the sendingsystem. After an identifier has been assigned to the pedigreeinformation, the information may then be transmitted to the recipient instep 305 using methods similar to the ones described in FIG. 2. Uponreceipt of the pedigree data, a confirmation to the sender along with arecipient or destination identifier associated with the pedigreeinformation may be received in step 310. A label may then be generatedfor the physical drug product containing the local identifier or thedestination identifier or both in step 315. In one alternative, thelocal identifier and/or the destination identifier may be representedusing barcodes to allow a recipient of the physical product to scan thebarcode and retrieve the pedigree information. The label may be attachedto the drug product so that pedigree information may be retrieved orotherwise located using the sender and/or recipient identifier.

FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical user interface, i.e., interface 400, forentering and submitting pedigree information. As described previously,graphical user interface 400 may be implemented in a variety of waysincluding web-based implementations as well as application-basedimplementations. The interface 400 may include several data sectionsincluding Drug Information 405, Drug History 410 and Recipient 415. DrugInformation portion 405 of interface 400 allows a user to enterinformation and characteristics of the drug, itself. For example, a usermay enter a drug name, dosage strength, expiration date, lot number,quantity and/or invoice number. In Drug History section 410, a user mayprovide the transaction history of the drug product including thesource, the date of transaction and the recipient. Once the data hasbeen entered, the user may select ADD option 420 to create the record.Additional records may be added using NEW option 430. Alternatively, ifthe user entered incorrect data, he or she may use CLEAR option 425 toclear the current entries. Furthermore, Drug History Entries list 435permits a user to review previously entered records and either edit ordelete them.

The Recipient field 415 may include drop down menu 440 allowing a userto select a recipient from a predefined list. Alternatively, Recipientfield 415 may provide a text entry field (not shown) that permits a userto manually specify the name of the recipient. A processing system maythen search for matches in a database in order to identify thedesignated recipient. Depending on the standards of the recipient'sjurisdiction, one or more of these fields may be required for propersubmission. In one or more embodiments, user interface 400 may furtherprovide a user with a menu of pedigree information formats (not shown),allowing the user to manually select the submission/transmissionstandard and override any automatic selections.

Alternatively or additionally, interface 400 may include create fieldoption 445 that allows a user to define his or her own data entry field.Accordingly, if a user wishes to enter a type of information for which afield is not provided, the user may select option 445 to name the newfield and enter the data associated with that new field. In one or moreconfigurations, selection option 445 may open a new dialogue window orinterface. In one example, a user may wish to create an instructionsfield for entering specific instructions for taking a particularmedication. The user may select option 445 to create an instructionsfield and enter the corresponding information.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of a networked system for distributing drugpedigree information in which various aspects described herein may beimplemented. Network system 500 may include entities such as drug sourcesystem 505, pedigree information system 510 and drug recipient system515. Systems 505, 510 and 515 may be connected through a variety oftypes of networks such as the Internet. In addition, the networks may beestablished using a variety of protocols that provide either wired orwireless connections or both. For example, system 505 may be connectedto pedigree information system 510 over a wireless local area network(WLAN) connection. Systems 505, 510 and 515 may comprise various typesof devices including personal data assistants (PDA), personal computers(PC), network server systems, mobile communication devices (e.g., cellphones) and/or combinations thereof. Additionally, network system 500may include one or more routing devices or systems situated betweensystems 505, 510 and 515 to aid in directing and/or filtering data.

In one or more configurations, a drug wholesaler who might not have itsown internal drug pedigree information system may access remote pedigreeinformation system 510 over a network through local system 505. The drugwholesaler may thus use the pedigree information applications andfunctionality provided by system 510 to provide drug pedigree data in anappropriate fashion. For example, if drug wholesaler has sold aparticular drug to a recipient corresponding to system 515, the drugwholesaler may use system 510 to format and transmit the drug pedigreeinformation associated with the sold drugs. In one or more instances,system 510 may determine regulations and requirements associated withthe drug sale transaction and prepare drug pedigree information receivedfrom a drug wholesaler in accordance with those regulations andrequirements. Once the drug pedigree information has been prepared, theinformation may then be transmitted to a recipient system associatedwith the drug purchaser like system 515.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for determining pedigreeinformation regulations and storing those regulations in a repository.In step 600, for example, a pedigree information system may identify alocation or locations associated with a product recipient. The productrecipient may be preprogrammed or predefined in the information system.Locations may be determined based on zipcodes, street addresses, phonenumbers and other information. Once a location has been identified,pedigree information regulations may be determined based on the locationin step 605. Regulations may be manually entered by a user or may beobtained electronically by querying a database corresponding to thelocation. In one example, a state government may maintain a database offorms and/or regulations associated with product pedigree information.As such, upon determining the location, a pedigree information systemmay access the database corresponding to the location (e.g., state) andobtain the relevant forms and regulations. In step 610, the pedigreeinformation system may then store the regulations and/or forms inassociation with the location in a repository. Thus, when regulationsneed to be identified, the pedigree information system may query therepository using the location of a specified recipient.

Alternatively or additionally, pedigree information regulations may beidentified and stored in association with one or more othercharacteristics or attributes. For example, regulations may depend on atype of product or a type of organization. If an organization is a forprofit company, the pedigree information requirements may be differentthan for a non-profit organization. Similarly, regulations may bedifferent for pedigree information associated with drug products thanfor firearms. As such, in one or more arrangements, regulationinformation may be stored in association with a combination ofattributes and characteristics.

While the above methods and systems have been described with respect todrug products and drug pedigree information, the methods and systems mayalso be used in other industries and for other products. For example,the firearm industry may also benefit from a pedigree information systemin order to track firearm possession and safeguard against illegalweapons or possession of weapons. Additionally, pedigree information mayprovide a potential purchaser with data regarding criminal recordsassociated with the firearm. Other products to which a pedigree systemmay be applied include tobacco products, alcoholic products and thelike.

Additionally, the methods and features recited herein may further beimplemented through any number of computer readable mediums that areable to store computer readable instructions. Examples of computerreadable media that may be used include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memoryor other memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD or other optical disk storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic storage and the like.

The present subject matter has been described in terms of preferred andexemplary embodiments thereof. It is to be understood that the subjectmatter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to thespecific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific featuresand acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementingthe claims.

1-8. (canceled)
 9. A method for managing product pedigree information,the method comprising: receiving pedigree information associated with aproduct from a product source, the pedigree information including asource identifier; associating the source identifier with the pedigreeinformation; formatting, by a processor, the received pedigreeinformation in accordance with a format; transmitting the formattedpedigree information to a recipient; receiving, by the processor, amessage from the recipient; determining whether the message is an errormessage identifying an error in formatting and including instructionsfrom the recipient; in response to determining that the message is anerror message identifying an error in formatting and includinginstructions from the recipient, automatically reformatting, by theprocessor, the pedigree information according to the instructionsincluded within the error message; determining whether the messageincludes a destination identifier from the recipient; and in response todetermining that the message includes a destination identifier from therecipient, associating the destination identifier with the pedigreeinformation.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising generating aproduct label including at least one of: the source identifier and thedestination identifier.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at leastone of the source identifier and the destination identifier is abarcode.
 12. The method of claim 9 wherein the product is apharmaceutical drug product.
 13. The method of claim 9, whereinformatting the pedigree information further comprises formatting thepedigree information in accordance with one or more product regulations.14. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more product regulationsare determined based on one or more characteristics of the recipient.15. The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving a confirmationmessage from the recipient in response to transmitting the pedigreeinformation. 16-20. (canceled)
 21. A non-transitory computer readablemedium to store computer executable instructions that, when executed,cause a processor to: receive pedigree information associated with aproduct from a product source, the pedigree information including asource identifier; associate the source identifier with the pedigreeinformation; format the received pedigree information in accordance witha format; transmit the formatted pedigree information to a recipient;receiving a message from the recipient; determine whether the message isan error message identifying an error in formatting and includinginstructions from the recipient; in response to a determination that themessage is an error message identifying an error in formatting andincluding instructions from the recipient, automatically reformat thepedigree information according to the instructions included within theerror message; determine whether the message includes a destinationidentifier from the recipient; and in response to a determination thatthe message includes a destination identifier from the recipient,associate the destination identifier with the pedigree information. 22.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein theinstructions are to further cause the processor to generate a productlabel including at least one of the source identifier and thedestination identifier.
 23. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 21, wherein the at least one of the source identifier and thedestination identifier is a barcode.
 24. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 21, wherein the product is a pharmaceuticaldrug product.
 25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim21, wherein the instructions to format the received pedigree informationfurther comprises formatting the pedigree information in accordance withone or more product regulations.
 26. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 25, wherein the one or more product regulationsare determined based on one or more characteristics of the recipient.27. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory to store computerexecutable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause theapparatus to: receive pedigree information associated with a productfrom a product source, the pedigree information including a sourceidentifier; associate the source identifier with the pedigreeinformation; format the received pedigree information in accordance witha format; transmit the formatted pedigree information to a recipient;receiving a message from the recipient; determine whether the message isan error message identifying an error in formatting and includinginstructions from the recipient; in response to a determination that themessage is an error message identifying an error in formatting andincluding instructions from the recipient, automatically reformat thepedigree information according to the instructions included within theerror message; determine whether the message includes a destinationidentifier from the recipient; and in response to a determination thatthe message includes a destination identifier from the recipient,associate the destination identifier with the pedigree information. 28.The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the computer executable instructionsare to further cause the apparatus to generate a product label includingat least one of the source identifier and the destination identifier.29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the at least one of the sourceidentifier and the destination identifier is a barcode.
 30. Theapparatus of claim 27, wherein the product is a pharmaceutical drugproduct.
 31. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the computer executableinstructions are to further cause the apparatus to format the receivedpedigree information further comprises formatting the pedigreeinformation in accordance with one or more product regulations.
 32. Theapparatus of claim 31, wherein the one or more product regulations aredetermined based on one or more characteristics of the recipient.